The present disclosure is directed to apparatuses and methods for guiding one or more conductors during installation. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed to a conductor guide system for guiding one or more conductors from a source, such as a conductor reel on which the conductors are loaded, to a destination, such as a conduit, raceway, or cable tray, for installation.
Electrical needs of modern facilities such as houses, apartment buildings, warehouses, manufacturing facilities, office buildings, and the like, have increased as the use of electrical devices has increased. During the construction of buildings or the upgrade of electrical/communication systems, conductors are typically pulled through a conduit from a source to electrical panels and power consumption sites. Because of the length of the conductors needed in certain installations, the conductors are typically wound around one or more conductor reels at an installation facility. A truck is typically used to transport the conductor reels, which may weigh several tons, from the installation facility where the conductors were loaded on the conductor reels to the site where the conductors are to be installed. The conductor reels are typically lifted from the truck transporting the conductor reels and moved to a location where the conductors are to be installed, such as proximate a conduit, raceway, or cable tray for receiving the conductors.
However, in some situations, geographical and structural limitations and barriers at a site prevent the conductor reels from being moved proximate the conduit, raceway, cable tray, or other destination for installation. In these situations, technicians are required to touch and manually guide the conductors as the conductors are pulled, typically with the aid of a puller system (“puller”), off the conductor reels and routed to the conduit, raceway, or cable tray for installation in order to direct the conductors along the route from the conductor reels to the conduit, raceway, or cable tray and protect the conductors from damage as the conductors move along the route. Depending on the distance between the source, such as the conductor reel, and the destination, such as a conduit, raceway, or cable tray, and the number and weight of the conductors being installed, multiple technicians may be required just to guide the conductors to the destination. In addition to increasing the amount of manpower needed at a site, requiring technicians to manually guide conductors from a source to a destination, as discussed above, exposes the technicians to possible injury, such as back and shoulder injuries caused by the exertion required to support and guide the conductors as the conductors move along the route from the source to the destination as well as finger and hand injuries from getting one or more fingers or hands caught between the conductors or between the conductors and the conduit as the conductors enter the conduit and/or getting one or more fingers or hands pinched between the conductors and a building structure on the route to the destination.